From Part Five of Angela Veronica Wong’s book how to survive a hotel fire
HOW TO SURVIVE A HOTEL FIRE
The weird thing is I just had a dream about a hotel fire, and now that I think about it, I
probably didn’t do the right thing. What caught on fire? I can’t remember, but possibly a
lampshade, or a shirt in the bathroom. Anyway, I remember telling my roommates we had
to get out of there but then calculating that the fire was small enough so we had some time.
I thought: I’ll just grab my expensive purse and zip up my suitcase. But then it seemed there
was even more time, so I unzipped my suitcase and started packing. I thought briefly about
how sad it was I couldn’t rescue my toothbrush from the bathroom. But what about the
whiskey? For some reason there was a sign-in sheet for the room and one of my roommates
signed it when he came in. When there is a fire, you notice things like that.
—
This selection comes from Angela Veronica Wong’s book how to survive a hotel fire, available from Coconut Books. Purchase your copy here!
Angela Veronica Wong is the author of several poetry chapbooks. She is on the internet at http://www.angelaveronicawong.com.
T.A. Noonan is the author of several books and chapbooks, most recently four sparks fall: a novella (Chicago Center for Literature and Photography, 2013) and, with Erin Elizabeth Smith, Skate or Die (Dusie Kollektiv, 2014). Her work has appeared or is forthcoming in Reunion: The Dallas Review, West Wind Review, Hobart, Ninth Letter, and Phoebe, among others. A weightlifter, crafter, priestess, and all-around woman of action, she serves as the Associate Editor of Sundress Publications, Founding Editor of Flaming Giblet Press, and Literary Arts Director for the Sundress Academy of the Arts.
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